"I didn't feel at all uncomfortable, they were friendly, very professional — I did not feel unwelcome."

Once the train was given the all clear Mrs Ling and her tour group continued on to Pyongyang to the hotel designated for tourists.

"There were lots of government vehicles, bikes, army vehicles - not many - lots of people and no private cars."

Despite the fact the hotel was only about 150 metres from the train station, Mrs Ling and her group were still required to get on a specially designated bus and be driven around the block to their accommodation.

"We were all conscious that we were in a very unusual country," Mrs Ling said.

Observing the austere Stalin-like buildings and the posters of the North Korean leadership, the Australians checked into their hotel and were shown to the 26th floor.

"We did see a British tour group but they were on a different floor," Mrs Ling said, explaining that each party of tourists were housed according to their group.

While the air in Pyongyang was not as clean as Australians might be used to, nor was it as polluted as that of its Chinese neighbour despite the presence of a very large coal-fired power station on the city's fringe.

"There was no graffiti, no litter, no rubbish anywhere," Mrs Ling said.

One major characteristic of the city was the amount of building underway.

"There were a lot of cranes," Mrs Ling recalled, adding that the roads appeared in good condition.

During her time in North Korea one of the highlights for Mrs Ling was being able to visit a school.

"[The children] wanted to know where we were from," she said.

"As a former teacher it fell upon me to draw a map on the board of Australia and Tasmania, but around the room there was no globe, no maps.